Memories of a Dream
by DarkBlueEyes.x
Summary: They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all. But what happens when you have loved and lost more than once? Can you ever feel love again? What if the fate of the world depends on it? A story of love and death. YoruSoi, lemons.
1. Attack from the Darkness

_Hello, Yorusoi fans, glad you could make it :)  
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_A tiny bit of this story might not make much sense if you haven't seen the Bleach movie 'Diamond Dust Rebellion' but most of it is explained so it should be ok.  
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_I like to believe that Soifon and Yoruichi are already together so the story is set a couple of decades (a Shinigami's lifetime lasts for centuries!) after the current arc (Espada) I have no idea what happens after the newest manga chapter so I'm just guessing that everyone lives, I hope!_

_I do not own Bleach (I don't know why people always put this because everyone knows who really does), please COMMENT AND REVIEW, enjoy!!_

_BlueEyes .x_

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**Attack from the Darkness**

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"_N-no, p-please..." Her hand reached out in front of her eyes, stretching towards a dark figure in front of her... Her vision was blurred with tears as she yearned for it with every fibre of her being. The intensity of the light was shining straight into her eyes with a strength that she could barely stand but she dared herself not to look away. A voice drifted towards her, slow and careful, overflowing with remorse, _

"_I'm sorry... Soifon". _

_And then the intense light washed out as quickly as it had come with a clap as loud as thunder and darkness engulfed her as she fell to the ground from her hands and knees in grief._

Soifon woke up with a start. She sat up as quick as lightning, breathing heavily. She touched her forehead and felt a thin layer of sweat as she took in her surroundings. She was enclosed by dim green fabric everywhere she looked. Her dream had disoriented her but now she remembered that she was in a large tent somewhere in the Great Forest. Close by, her Vice-Captain and twenty or so members of the Onmitsukidō would be sleeping in similar green tents pitched overnight in a small clearing of the great forest that encompassed miles and miles beyond the south of the Rukongai district.

Soifon took a deep breath and hoped her start had not made too much noise. She cursed under her breath for allowing herself to be affected by that memory again. She pushed it out of her mind and laid back down on the hard bedding. The last thing she needed was for her subordinates to hear her, especially the ones on guard, and come running to her tent in concern or something. She had resolved a long time ago to not show any emotions whatsoever in front of anybody, as it would be taken as a sign of weakness, and as Captain of the Second Division and Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō - a title she had acquired without any amount of pride but a whole lot of regret - she couldn't afford to appear weak.

The past was not something Soifon wanted to concentrate on first thing in the morning, or ever for that matter, so deciding she couldn't sleep any longer she got up and changed her clothes quickly, putting on her Captain's haori and her Zanpaktō on her back as she unzipped the flap of the entrance of the tent and slipped out quietly.

The guards stood up and bowed as she passed by, "Taichō", they said in unison. She stopped briefly, "Any news?". One of them stepped forward and bowed again, "No Captain, but we have assessed the area and have determined that the co-ordinates are only about half a day's travel away".

"Half a day? Well, we better get started, wake everyone, I'm taking a walk".

"Yes, Commander" he replied. Soifon couldn't help the corner of her mouth twitching, the guard realised his mistake without looking. "Yes, Captain" he corrected quickly. Barely satisfied, Soifon continued to walk on. She did not like being referred to as 'Commander'. It was what they used to call the previous Commander and she didn't like being compared to _her_. It didn't suit her, she preferred her Captain's title more, even on strict Onmitsukidō missions, and all of them knew it.

*

When she got back to the site, all of the tents had been packed up in neat parcels. The cops were in the final stages of lacing up their boots and masks. As she approached, her Vice-Captain came running and stopped in front of her.

"Nearly all ready to go now, Captain!" He almost bellowed.

"I can see that".

"The men have just finished packing all of the tents and the equipment, Captain!"

"Yes. I know."

"And --"

"Ōmaeda" she interrupted him, "the fact that there is an obvious lack of tents and equipment behind you is clearly telling me that the men have in fact, packed all of the tents and equipment. Is that right?"

She didn't give him a chance to reply. "And the fact that they are all standing behind you, dressed and to attention is clearly indicative that we are ready to go, am I wrong?"

The Vice-Captain looked behind him and realised that all of the cops were standing in salutation in two neat rows of ten, with the few equipment bearers and medics doing the same on one side. He sighed and realised that the Captain was obviously in a bad mood and made a mental note that today was not a good time for trying to impress her with chit-chat.

When he turned back the Captain was not there but already walking towards a cop on the corner of the front row. He was briefing the Captain on the direction and co-ordinates in a respectful tone. His name was Yagami Akio and he was the Commander of the First Division of the Onmitsukidō. Since Soifon became the Commander-in-Chief, she had taken the liberty of restructuring some of the divisions. The First Division, or the Executive Militia became known also as the Elite, and the members of the Elite were the most rigorously trained and highly skilled members of the entire Onmitsukidō divisions.

After the briefing, the Elite set off in the direction planned. They ran quickly and moved efficiently, hardly tiring over twelve or so hours, which was to be expected of any member of the Elite. Soifon liked moving at this steady and rhythmic pace. It calmed her and gave her time to think. The Captain-Commander sent her out here on a Rank Two mission, meaning it had to be taken quite seriously. The situation was not necessarily dangerous, but rather mysterious. Over the past couple of months, reports have been coming in about missing souls. This happened all the time but recently there has been a very noticeable spike in the numbers and they all happen to be around the same area this time. Also, more importantly, a member of a Noble family is also reported to be missing. The Captain-Commander had decided it was serious enough to investigate and requested Soifon to take a small team to find out what was happening. The Elite were mainly used for Rank One missions but Soifon thought it might be a good idea to take them anyway, just in case. She had learnt a long time ago that it was always better to be cautious.

On the way into the forest, they found even more evidence of disappeared souls, including discarded clothing and traces of remaining reiatsu. The last time something like this happened, four captains and three vice-captains disappeared, amongst others. The case was getting more and more serious and Soifon decided that it had to be solved.

Now the team were travelling further and further into the forest, aiming for a small watch tower that was placed near the centre of the giant forest and manned by two Shinigami. Hopefully, they would be able to get some answers.

When they arrived it was nightfall. The tower was a tall and thin stone building built in a very small clearing in the forest. It just about looked over most of the trees in the surrounding area. There were usually two Shinigami living inside for a few weeks or months at a time, before they were swapped out for another two. They were supposed to look after anything strange happening in the forests, such as Hollow appearances, but these sorts of events rarely occurred and it was basically used by Captains to discipline big-headed Shinigami.

As Soifon approached the front of the tower, she noticed that it was rather run down, the stone was chipped and crumbling apart in places and the thin wooden balcony built around the top was only half there. She pushed open the wooden door which fell from its hinges to the ground with a groan. Her hand moved to the hilt of her Zanpaktō as she walked in, followed by six cops, including her vice-captain and Yagami.

Inside the tower was completely silent, and mostly dark except for the faint moonlight coming in through the door behind them and some cracks in the walls. Soifon took in her surroundings quickly, she noted the bare amount of furniture in the room, a table, two chairs a bucket and broom in the corner and some stairs at the far end of the room. The windows were shut tight and shadows were cast over most of the area.

She walked further into the darkness, she felt Yagami spread out to her left on one side and Ōmaeda on the other. Her foot stepped on something soft and she looked down to see two sets of black Shinigami robes abandoned on the ground. Suddenly, she felt a very small and sudden movement in the corner under the stairs, it was only a whisper of a move, but she felt it. Instantly, she drew her sword, "Show yourself!" she demanded, fearlessly.

There was silence. The silence continued for a few more seconds and Soifon was about to leap when she heard a cry of pain from behind her. She swung around and saw that one after another the four men behind her fell to the ground. There was a flash of metal against metal as the figure attacked Yagami but he was able to defend. Ōmaeda attacked the figure from behind but it quickly ducked and a strong hand struck the side of his knee, causing him to cripple over. It then turned and stepped behind Yagami and Soifon only just managed to see the glint of a small blade strike his back. Both men fell to the ground as the dark figure moved towards Soifon. She reacted quickly and blocked the blade, twisted it around and swung back, causing it to fly above her head and stab into the wooden table top. She lunged forward with her sword at the enemy who dodged to the side and ran up the stairs.

Soifon gave chase until she reached the wooden landing at the top of the tower "You have nowhere to run!" she cried, but then realised that there was nobody there. She looked over the broken fence of the balcony only to see a black figure disappear into the forest, leaving behind a trail of fallen Elite.

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_Reviews welcome!_


	2. Legacy

**Legacy**

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Captain Unohana gave Soifon a grave look. "You will have to see the Captain-Commander about this immediately". Soifon nodded towards the door behind Unohana, "Their status?".

"I'm afraid Ōmaeda has suffered a crippled knee and will be out of action for a few weeks, and the rest only have cut wounds which should only take a few days to heal with the medicine that I have administered".

Soifon nodded again and turned away. "Aren't you going to visit them?" Unohana enquired. Soifon turned and said "Thank you for your help, but you just said they were fine" and with that she continued walking toward the Captain-Commander's headquarters.

Her hand moved towards the inside of her haori where she kept it. It was wrapped in cloth but it still felt cold, and extremely heavy. She had returned from the balcony at the tower only to find that the four men that had followed her into the dark room had disappeared, leaving behind four bloodstained black cops uniforms. She was in shock but quickly collected herself, and seeing the knife embedded on the tabletop she wrapped it in one of the black cloth masks and in the end she and the few men that were left carried the fallen soldiers all the way back to Seireitei without rest.

She had taken a careful look at the object. It was something like a very unusual dagger, slightly longer than a regular one but shorter than a sword. It was completely gold all over the blade and she could tell from the gleam that it was also extremely sharp. The handle had strange black markings all over it, carved into the denser gold. She realised that whatever it was, it was clearly dangerous, and she would take it to the Captain-Commander.

*

"I see," the Captain-Commander said, looking up from the object laid on his desk to Soifon, "and how did you manage to get it off of the wielder?".

"I fought him" she replied.

"Hmm, and tell me, Captain Soifon, was it an easy fight?"

Startled by the strange question, Soifon paused and said "I don't know Sir, we suffered some casualties and I didn't defeat him..." she trailed off.

"I see. Do you realise what this is, Captain Soifon?"

"No, Sir"

"Well, let me tell you. It is vital that you know. This object is called the King's Knife".

"The King's Knife? As in, like the -"

"Yes, like the King's Seal, Captain Soifon. Information about these items is only passed on from Captain-Commanders onto the next, and rarely shared except in dire situations such as this. Desperate measures must now be taken". He paused, and then continued.

"In ancient times, the Emperor, wanting to be the most powerful being in the whole of Soul Society, used his supremacy, knowledge and wealth to create items that would give him all the power in the universe. He called them the King's Collection. He created the King's Seal, which allowed him to have complete control of travelling between worlds, including the real world. As you know, it was destroyed by Sōjirō Kusaka during the incident involving Captain Hitsugaya.

The second item was this, the King's Knife, and the rest, well, at present there is no need to divulge that information, Captain.

The Emperor of course acquired this vast amount of power but overestimated his ability to control it. Where there is power there will be wars between those who seek it. The King's items became highly coveted treasures and many suffered the ultimate price either fighting to acquire them or fighting to protect them. Realising how much peril and trouble the items brought, the King separated the pieces and to this day they are guarded carefully."

Soifon looked down at the knife resting on the great oak desk. It was hard to believe that it could be so ancient; the markings on the handle was intricately carved into the gold and the blade was still sharp, as it if it was newly created and had never cut anything before, although Soifon knew better, since it had already taken the lives of some of her Elite officers. Its elegance and majesty created an enticing aura around it, so much so that she wanted to touch it...

The next thing she knew the knife had been scooped up in its cloth and had been moved closer to the Captain-Commander's side of the desk in the blink of an eye. Soifon's hand was left slightly outstretched, which she withdrew to her side.

"The King's knife," the Captain-Commander continued, "has the ability to mortally injure anything it cuts, and kill anything it stabs. It is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, its powers are limitless, it will kill anything and everything if the wielder wishes. Its power is so alluring that many who have held it have become entranced in its beauty. Which is why, Captain Soifon, I cannot take any chances; the sword must not be held in anybody's possession until we can find the person responsible for stealing it from its rightful place".

Soifon blinked twice, realising that she had spent the last few moments staring at the knife across the large desk. She replied quickly "And where is it normally kept, Sir?"

"It has been entrusted for centuries under the care of the head of the Shihōin noble family" he replied.


	3. Hypnotised

**Hypnotised**

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"Get a grip, get a grip..." Soifon repeated to herself. She was lying in her bed at the Second Division of the Gotei 13 headquarters. It was a warm dark night and the moon was waxing, a little bigger than that night before, and beaming dimly through the open window. It had been a few days since her talk with the Captain-Commander and since then there had been no leads in this case. On top of that, the members of the Elite that had obtained cuts were still in the care of Unohana, some of them in critical condition, much to the surprise of the expert medic who had healed hundreds, if not thousands of similar wounds within hours. Even the Commander, Yagami was in bad condition, although he was doing better than some of the others, two of which had died a day ago.

Soifon, as Commander-in-Chief of the Special Forces was put in charge of the case, since she probably knew the most about the thief, even though she was unable to discover his identity. Most of the other Captains assigned themselves with other parts of the case, such as research about the knife and patrolling the forest and southern Rukongai for suspicious activities. Soifon busied herself with making a plan of action.

Firstly, and reluctantly, she went to question the Shihōin family at their vast mansion. She hadn't been to the castle-like building for many years but she pushed all of the memories, the good and bad, to the back of her mind and reminded herself that she was here for business. Regardless, the visit proved fruitless anyway as none of the family had realised it was stolen until many hours afterwards as it was kept in a very secret location in the house and the guards that were protecting it were all killed, leaving nobody to report it missing until the next guards came to swap shifts.

Soifon had left the house with a feeling of regret. The once noble and great Shihōin family had been left without an official head and over the years the council of the noble family have bickered for control until it became the conflicted disorder it is now.

Soifon turned over as she tried to fall asleep, but she couldn't stop thinking about the knife, what it meant and how come this whole thing with _that_ family was all coming about _now_. She remembered her dream the other night in the forest and wondered if somebody was trying to tell her something. Over the years she had done a good job of forgetting about the whole sordid past and instead she had buckled down with her training. She had sworn that she would be stronger, and she would constantly surround herself with strong fighters, hence the formation of the Elite. Since _then_ she was never upset, or angry, and whenever casualties happened around her she would do what she could to save the men but ultimately she put strength and independence, and the success of the mission first. Death was something that happened. That was the truth.

_Yagami is a good fighter_, she thought, _but if he dies, he can be replaced_. _And so can the next one, after all,_ _that is what it means to be Onmitsukidō_ she repeated to herself. She sighed, wondering if she was too harsh, but concluded that becoming too attached was what had torn her apart before.

*

The lamp on her desk burned dimly as she mulled over the pile of papers that have accumulated on her desk. Soifon looked at the mountain of research that had been extracted from the forbidden records of the library with permission of the Captain-Commander. There was so much to go through but somehow she had to find out how and why the knife was stolen. Whoever it was that stole it was proving impossible to find, as she had no leads whatsoever. At this rate, she thought, she would have to give up and just return the knife to the Shihōin.

She was absolutely exhausted, having been unable to sleep properly for days. Every night she would have the same mysterious dream about chasing the black figure through the thick forest for miles, with it always two steps ahead of her. She would clearly see the gold knife tucked in the sash of the thief ahead, and every time she reached out to take it back the figure would burst forward and get away. Last night she was almost able to touch the knife in her dreams but the same thing happened and Soifon would be left standing on a tall branch over the thick canopy, watching the figure dance away into the distance at an amazing speed.

Soifon snapped out of her reverie, and looked down at the small faded grey book open in front of her. There was a drawing of the King's knife and it was labelled in various places but Soifon was so tired the only thing she noticed was that the drawing of the markings on the handle was obviously wrong, and nowhere near as beautiful as the real thing. She yawned gently and decided she would do the rest tomorrow, it was getting late and for goodness sake she needed some sleep if she was going to save her sanity.

*

"_I'm gonna get you this time" she yelled, sprinting faster, she reached her hand out, her fingertips outstretched as she gave a final amazing burst of speed until she felt the tips of her fingers brush the cool gold of the knife. _

_Suddenly the thief swung around and stopped. Soifon almost fell forward because of her speed but she managed to find her footing and instinctively took up a fighting stance, waiting for the figure to attack. The figure drew the knife from his sash slowly, but instead of moving and striking her with it, the figure stabbed it into the trunk of the tree he was standing on. To Soifon's amazement, the tree immediately began to wither and before she could react the figure had already disappeared, this time leaving the knife. _

_Soifon jumped forward and pulled the knife out of the dying trunk, before gracefully landing on the ground and dodging out of the way of the falling tree. _

_Soifon held the heavy blade in her hand and she admired how beautifully it glowed in the moonlight._

Soifon sat up with a start, she had fallen asleep on her desk and now the lamp had burned up she was sitting in complete darkness. The thought came to her as she realised the reason why it was so easy to win the fight, the thief was _giving_ the knife to her, and somehow, the Captain-Commander knew it.

Suddenly, the urge to hold the knife in her hands became overwhelming, she felt that if she couldn't hold the cool weapon soon she would die.

Without knowing, she was already out of the door with her sword on her back and heading towards the First Division Headquarters.


	4. Double Escape

**Double Escape**

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Soifon ran, quickly, by using her exceptional shunpō abilities she was able to get to the gates within minutes. She waited, watching the guarding Shinigami, they were skilled, she admitted, but were unmatched to her Onmitsukidō skills. She scaled the side wall, making barely a whisper of sound. There were more guards, but under the protection of the night she made her way easily to the central building. She could feel that the knife was inside, and knew that the Captain-Commander would be waiting for her.

She arrived at the central court as the doors swung open, causing Soifon to stop in her tracks. The Captain-Commander stepped out and stood in the centre of the large wooden doors. "Captain Soifon," he announced, the sound of his deep voice sounded disturbing in the still night air, "I have been waiting."

Again, she could _feel_ the knife very close by, her fingers twitched on their own accord in anxiousness.

"I know," the Captain-Commander said, mysteriously, "that I could not prevent this from happening, and now here you are, Captain Soifon, just as predicted". His voice was calm as he reached into his haori for the bundle, still wrapped in black cloth.

"Fate plays out in strange ways, there could have been a million reasons why it was not you, but somehow it is and now I cannot help but carry on what fate has started".

Soifon remained silent, and confused, but grew extremely impatient. Her silver eyes bore into the black cloth, she was willing it to come to her...

The Captain-Commander bowed his head and raised the package towards Soifon. "You have to determine your own fate, Soifon."

And at that the knife began to shake on his outstretched palm. The Captain-Commander withdrew his hand and to Soifon's surprise the black package remained afloat. Small bright beams of light shone through the folds of the cloth, brighter and brighter as the bundle shook, until the cloth slipped gracefully off and fluttered to the ground. Soifon's eyes followed the glowing knife as it slowly floated towards her. She reached out and felt a satisfying familiarity as her fingers closed around the beautiful handle.

The glowing faded and she looked at the Captain-Commander. He said mysteriously, "Go, Soifon, you will find your way, and I hope that you will return" he added with a sad tone.

Soifon was completely confused but something told her she had to leave Seireitei immediately. She turned and hopped out of the First Division walls as quickly and easily as she had come and she kept running, past her division headquarters, past the medical headquarters where her soldiers were still fighting for their lives, past the entire Shinigami walls and further, until she reached the outer corners of Rukongai and beyond.

*

When Soifon awoke the first thing she noticed was that she was still moving. But her legs were completely still. She was looking down at the sandy ground and saw two legs move at lightning speed beneath her. The tiredness immediately wore off when she realised she was being carried over someone's shoulder. In shock she launched herself forward, somersaulting in the air and landing behind the person, who had stopped abruptly.

"Who are you?" she demanded fiercely. Soifon tried to remember what had happened the night before but everything was a blur. She felt a heavy weight in her garment and to her relief she still had the golden knife, wrapped in a rag she had snatched whilst running...

The figure was dressed in black and facing away from her. The clothes looked similar to the ones she saw the other night, but she could tell it was a different person. When no answer came she repeated her question, this time with her hand on her sword "Answer me, thief!" she said.

"My, my..." The figure spoke. Shock hit Soifon square in the face as the voice rang in her ears and stirred a concoction of emotions deep within her.

"I remember back in the day it used to be...Yoruichi-_sama_". The figure turned around and pulled the black mask from around her head, revealing a pony-tail of thick violet hair and a face of dark tanned skin.

"Y-Yoruichi..." Soifon gasped.

"Hey there, little bee" Yoruichi smiled.

A moment of silence passed, feeling slightly awkward Yoruichi stepped forwards towards the shocked Shinigami.

Yoruichi stared at the frozen Soifon whose cute little mouth was still in the shape of the last syllable she had uttered. Then, without warning, the shocked face turned into a frown and the silence was pierced with an angry shriek "Yoruichi! Stop torturing me, leave me alone!" Soifon charged at Yoruichi at full speed with her sword drawn striking down with full force at the place where Yoruichi stood.

Yoruichi quickly jumped out to the side but Soifon reacted just as quickly, swinging the katana across to her left but the goddess had already stepped backwards. Soifon retaliated by lunging towards her but lost her footing and fell to the ground. Her body was seething with rage as she got up quickly only to see Yoruichi withdrawing her foot from the point the Soifon had tripped.

"Soifon, what the hell...?" Yoruichi said. Soifon ignored her and lunged again, this time careful not to be tripped up again. She swung and stabbed at Yoruichi without much success, each time almost clumsily falling over or missing completely.

"Wow, Soi, either you have become really shabby at fighting lately or you're really angry at me" Yoruichi said, with a smirk twitching at the corner of her lips, dodging another attack.

Soifon continued to ignore her and swung again in blindly, Yoruichi continued "or, you know, I've just become even better than I was before!".

Soifon yelled "if you're gonna leave, then _just_ leave!" she lunged towards her, but this time, Yoruichi responded by stepping to Soifon's right. She gently put her hand on Soifon's hand which was still outstretched holding her sword as if stabbing an invisible object.

"Enough" she whispered.

Soifon felt the electricity shoot up from the back of her hand from her touch. She turned away from Yoruichi and sheathed her katana. _Why does she keep tormenting me? Even after all this time?_

_It's just another figment of my imagination_, she thought. _It can't be her_.

She's _dead_.


	5. Opening Old Wounds

**Opening Old Wounds**

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The two women stood, a few feet apart, each not really knowing how to continue. Yoruichi was not sure what to say, she was left looking at the back of Soifon's head, and couldn't help staring at the midnight blue hair, which was thick and tinged with the most subtle blues and blacks.

Soifon didn't turn towards Yoruichi, instead she continued walking, in the direction of the footsteps left from just moments before. She didn't know where she was heading but she had to get away from this place.

"Er, Soifon?"

Soifon ignored the voice in her head and carried on walking. _It's just my imagination, _she repeated in her head over and over again with each step.

"Hello...? Soul Society to Soifon?" Yoruichi called from behind her.

She slipped in front of Soifon and held her arms out smugly, blocking her path. Soifon was walking with her head dipped down and didn't stop.

"Soifon, if you do not stop walking right now, you will walk right into me and we shall end up an undignified pile on the ground" she said dramatically. As she came nearer, with no obvious signs of stopping, Yoruichi sighed in frustration, she walked towards Soifon, reached out her hand gently and held Soifon's chin. She tipped it up towards her and only then did she see that Soifon had tears in her eyes.

Yoruichi looked deep into her silver eyes, remembering the way they changed colour when she was sad, and for a moment Soifon looked back at Yoruichi's golden eyes and indulged in the happiness that she had once felt looking into them.

Soifon raised her hand and touched the side of the tanned face looking down at her. The skin felt soft and delicate under her strong features, just the way she remembered it, Soifon felt the magic flow from Yoruichi's skin into her fingers.

"I must really be losing my mind" She concluded, the emotions raging inside of her threatened to overwhelm her.

"Well, I think that ship kinda sailed, my little bee!" Yoruichi said, enthusiastically.

Soifon stared at Yoruichi, taking in the beauty she had tried so hard to forget.

Yoruichi paused, maybe this wasn't the time to be joking around. "I'm back" she said.

*

They had run for hours, across the large grassy plains for the rest of the day and the beginning of the night. They hadn't talked much, the shock of Yoruichi's presence meant that Soifon's thoughts were reeling all over the place. She kept stealing glances at the goddess, constantly questioning herself if she was really there, or whether or not she would disappear when she wasn't looking. She almost couldn't stand the nostalgia that was welling up inside whenever she felt Yoruichi next to her, the way she ran, the brush of her skin, her fragrant scent. With every step she took she wondered if really was a bad thing that she was going crazy.

As they ran, Soifon let herself fall into her rhythm of deep thought, she allowed herself to think, remembering the final moments that have tortured and tormented her so much that she was forced to push them to the back of her mind, suppressing the memories that bought her so much pain...


	6. Blast from the Past

**Blast from the Past**

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"Oooh, what's that you got there, Soifon?" Yoruichi peered over Soifon shoulder at the paper work that had been sent as 'Top Secret' mail, stamped as 'Emergency' by the Captain-Commander.

Yoruichi clapped her hands excitedly, "A Rank One mission? Sounds like fun, can I come?"

"Yoruichi, what are you doing in here!? This is my office!" Soifon moaned, folding up the papers quickly.

"Ah, don't be such a party pooper Soi, lemme see..." Yoruichi reached over Soifon to grab the papers, but even though she was taller, her arms couldn't reach across to the other side with Soifon stretching her arm out and pushing Yoruichi away with her other hand. The two women struggled for a few seconds, "Stop it Yoruichi, otherwise we're gonna-", before Soifon could finish, the chair tipped over, Soifon fell to the ground and unable to support Yoruichi's leaning weight, she fell on top of her.

"Yay, got them!" the princess reached over happily. A muffled sound came from beneath her,

"Grrmm-chi, ger'off me...can't 'reathe...your... "- Yoruichi lifted herself up - "...breasts!" Soifon shouted loudly, finishing her sentence. Yoruichi burst out laughing whilst an embarrassed Soifon clapped her hands over her mouth and blushed furiously.

"Ha ha! See? It's hardly any fun without you, you're always working, please please can I come?" Yoruichi choked between her laughing.

"No way, and this is why; you always mess about, plus, this is a Rank _One_ mission, there's no room for mistakes! They call me Chief for a reason, you know!" she said proudly, then added slyly "besides, you haven't trained you're lazy ass in ages".

"Hey! I've been a little distracted lately, that's all. Anyway, if I knew you were gonna be this boring I wouldn't have let you be in charge! And not even if I say pretty pretty pwease?" Yoruichi pouted childishly.

"No" Soifon got up and brushed her haori. Yoruichi loved tormenting Soifon when she was trying to be serious.

"What if I... do this!" and with her flash steps the taller woman was behind the captain launching her hands to her waist, unleashing a tickle attack on her.

"No-no, Y-Yoruichi, s-stop...ha..hahaha...ha..."

"Not until you say yes!"

Soifon cursed herself, damn her ticklish weakness, but she wasn't going to give in this time! She grabbed the darker woman's wrists on her body in a tight grip with opposite hands, lifted them above her head, pivoted around and pressed her onto the nearby wall. Soifon held Yoruichi's dark hands against the wall at her sides. "Ha!" she exclaimed with a triumphant smile "Gotcha!"

Yoruichi looked down at the Captain's young face, smiling sweetly at her little victory, she couldn't resist, leaning forward and kissing those cute lips. Soifon, caught by surprise, let her grip loosen, allowing Yoruichi to pull her hands free and hold the sides of Soifon's face.

Their lips were joined for several moments, until Soifon reluctantly broke the kiss. "Yoruichi, not now, I've got a ton of paper-".

"No you don't." Yoruichi said smiling at the rosy blush that had appeared on the young girl's cheeks.

"-work to finish and - what?"

"I said, no you don't!"

"How come?"

"'cause... you're fired!"

"What?"

Yoruichi put on her official voice, "Ahem, I as the Shihōin family head, hereby declare that you, Soifon, are fired and thereby released from duty as Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō. And, therefore you must come with me immediately to your bedroom where we can do dirty things to each other!"

Soifon pouted, but couldn't help smiling at the brashness of the princess. "Yoruichi, that's not funny, you really scared me!".

"Ok, ok, you can be fired after this mission, and _then_ can we do dirty things?"

"Only if I'm _not_ fired".

"Deal".

"And promise me you'll stop sneaking up on me."

"Deal."

"And promise you'll stop moaning about coming on this mission!"

"Dea- hey, wait!"

But with that Soifon was already halfway out the door, secret papers in hand and yelling "You said deal!" victoriously behind her.

*

Hours later, Soifon had a few members from Divisions One and Two assembled for this mission. She had no idea where Ōmaeda was, _probably out torturing peasants with his presence_, she thought.

They were sitting around a round conference table, briefing up on the mission. The room was dimly lit, except for the table which was scattered with papers, reports and maps. The mission was to investigate the disappearance of several Shinigami from the twelfth division of the Gotei 13. They have been found to have abandoned their posts intentionally and witnesses have come forward reporting the location of their hideout and the appearance of strong hollows in that area.

The Onmitsukidō were to send a team to the location to where the dangerous Shinigami were hiding and find out what kind of experiments they were conducting with hollows, and execute them if necessary.

By nightfall, the team had left and were surrounding the reported area, weapons at the ready at Soifon's command. They were sneaking towards a small abandoned hut made of deteriorating stone hastily patched together with wood, situated quite a distance away in the desolated desert area to the west of Seireitei. Soifon looked ahead of her, as far as she could see there was desert and sand, dead plants and trees, occasionally obscured by dust as it was carried by the wind across the dark plains.

Soifon gave the signal and the stealth team moved silently forward, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting Shinigami inside. Suddenly, a loud howl erupted from nowhere, freezing the men in their tracks. The howl quickly turned into a horrific shriek as a large black hole was torn open in the sky above them and a colossal green arm clawed its way through. Some of the men fell to their knees as the enormous reiatsu crushed them into the ground. Soifon was able to stand but she also felt the full force of the wild and uncontrolled reiatsu, she gauged it to be comparable to the most powerful Captains, but it was untamed and released in unrestrained bursts as it gushed out of the hollow that was stepping out of the giant black hole.

Soifon's arms felt heavy as she drew her sword, ready to attack. She launched herself into the air, sword ready to strike when she was knocked with full force off her target and onto the ground as another giant hole opened up to her right. An even stronger and crushing reiatsu spilled out of the void, causing Soifon to lose her balance and fall to one knee. She lifted her head and saw that most of the men were unconscious, and the ones that weren't looked like they were writhing under huge invisible boulders.

Soifon stood up, _this is bigger than a Rank One mission_, _much bigger_.

But there was no time to call for help, these hollow were going to kill every one of her men, and probably herself too if she didn't defeat them now. She didn't know how many more were going to appear but she better deal with those two before another rips its way into the world and she wouldn't be able to move an inch. She lifted herself from the ground and ran towards the hollow whose giant limbs had crawled out of the hole and were touching the ground. When she was close enough she pushed, with a tremendous amount of effort, herself off of the sand and sliced the hollow down the middle. To her dismay, it did not dissipate into a stream of white particles as she expected but instead the two halves lazily moved back upwards and clashed together to form the whole hollow again.

"What the- " Soifon growled under her breath, _this isn't working_, she thought, it was time to release her Zanpaktō, "_Jinteki Shakusetsu_" she announced, "Sting all enemies to death!" she charged forward, with renewed energy and struck the nearest hollow twice at the same spot. A large black butterfly tattoo appeared on the tentacle of the giant monster, it looked down and used its razor sharp arms to cut off its leg. The leg fell off and disappeared into a million particles whilst another grew in its place.

Cursing, Soifon was about to release her Bankai when it hit her that she was extremely low on reiatsu. _How can this be?_ She thought furiously, when suddenly a large arm struck her from behind, knocking all of the wind out of her. She flew several metres before rolling across the ground in a cloud of sand and dirt. She tried to get up but noticed she was even weaker than before. _It's halving my reiatsu every time I touch it. That must be why its reiatsu is getting stronger, it's sucking it all up_. Soifon lay helpless on the ground, almost completely drained of energy having already touched the monsters four times.

The two hollow turned towards her, one raising its giant razor sharp arm ready to strike the last crushing blow on her. Soifon willed her body to move but her heavy limbs wouldn't obey her internal screams. The hollow arm raised higher, before dropping down towards her with a _woosh_, like a gigantic axe.

Soifon squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for it to pound her into the ground. She heard a massive crash but when she opened her eyes she saw her hands were covered in dirt, not blood.

"Told ya you should have taken me along". She looked up and saw the back of Yoruichi, who was wielding a katana raised above her head with two arms, holding back the hollow's immense weight.

"Yoruichi!" Soifon shouted.

The princess didn't answer as her arms shook and she struggled to keep her stance. Then, with a fearsome cry she focussed her extraordinary strength back at the hollow and pushed its enormous weight away from her. The hollow fell back with an earthquake-like crash. Yoruichi's legs gave in and she fell to one knee, quickly stabbing the katana she had taken from one of the men into the ground to hold herself up. "Damn, that what I get for not training for so long..." she huffed breathlessly.

"Yoruichi, it absorbs you're reiatsu if you strike it like that!" Soifon stumbled the words out quickly, hoping it would stop the goddess from fighting.

"It does, does it? Interesting..." she grinned.

"Yoruichi!" Soifon yelled after her as Yoruichi ran forward at the second hollow which was now approaching them. She reached the base without it knowing she was there and lifted the sword to her left, ready to strike upwards at the creature when it opened its colossal jaws and collected a cero, launching it straight behind her...at Soifon.

"NO!" Yoruichi cried, she dropped the katana and used her super speed to change direction and sprint towards Soifon.

The scarlet cero was fast, concentrated and tremendously powerful, she could sense that it was brimming with devastating reiatsu, it shot through space like a giant lighthouse beam and lit up the entire surroundings in a bloody red.

Yoruichi barely had time to think as she raced against the speed of light towards Soifon who lay barely conscious on the ground.

Faster than humanly possible, Yoruichi reached her before the cero did, but only just. It came barely a few milliseconds later, as Yoruichi crouched protectively over the young Shinigami.

She screamed out in pain as the cero blasted into her back, scorching her skin and burning her insides. She tried with all her might to summon all of the reiatsu she had left to shield her back and shoulders, it erupted in a fan of white light as she attempted to stop it from blasting right through her body.

Soifon watched with her eyes wide, even though the light was so bright. Everything moved in slow motion as she watched Yoruichi force one last smile.

"N-no, p-please..." she cried reaching up to touch her.

"I'm sorry, Soifon..." Yoruichi managed before the brilliant light engulfed everything and Soifon's senses were submerged into a dark state of unconsciousness.

*

Soifon woke up with a loud gasp of breath in a small single windowed room which she would later find to be Unohana's Special Medical Unit, where she had been in a coma for weeks. Unohana entered the room, telling her that she had suffered severe injuries and an immense draining of her reiatsu, so much so that as a Captain she had barely held her spirit form together as she normally possessed such huge amounts of it. Most of them men that she had taken with her had either died or were also severely injured.

One of the lucky men, Yagami Akio, had survived and due to his strength and instinct that helped saved some of the other lives, he would later be promoted to Commander of the First Division. He had come to visit his Captain often and when she did awake he reported all of the news she had missed.

"What happened...?" Soifon mumbled, her voice was weak, having not spoken in weeks.

He stood at her bedside and bowed. "The two hollows were created using technology based on the Hōgyoku, secret information was found by some members of the twelfth division Forbidden Archives. They used it to summon and control some of the most powerful hollow in existence but the Shinigami did not realise that without sufficient power they cannot make them follow their will". He paused, allowing the Captain to take in the information slowly, knowing full well that her condition was still critical.

"That night they released the hollows to defend themselves, knowing that they needed to bring out the most powerful ones to defeat the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō to escape," he paused, "we were overwhelmed, Captain, and if it were not for the arrival of the other Captains we would all have certainly been obliterated".

"The other Captains...?"

"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Kenpachi, and Captain Kuchiki were able to defeat the all of the hollows that appeared with the help of each of their Vice-Captains and third seats. They have captured the rogue Shinigami".

"H-how did they know?"

He finally looked up at the Commander, "It seems they were instructed to come by Yoruichi-sama" Yagami replied carefully.

Soifon winced visibly at the mention of her name, the blurry memories of that night became clearer in her mind. She dismissed Yagami and spent the next few weeks grieving unbearably over Yoruichi. She did not let anyone except Unohana into her room after that, and did not leave the healing quarters for weeks, spending them alone in silence, where she would cry in anger and rage and then in heartache and then start all over again. She would punish herself by forcing herself to remember _her_ smile, _her_ touch... their last kiss, so that the pain that came over her swallowed her sense of time.

She would spend days barely eating and simply letting the anguish engulf her, it hurt so much more than the _last_ time they were apart, this time it was _nobody's_ choice and there was _nothing_ she could do. The guilt threatened to eat her alive as she replayed the events in her nightmares, wondering what she could have done differently. If only _she_ wasn't the fastest, she thought, then the other Captains would have arrived at the same time. _If only I wasn't so weak_, she thought, then _she_ wouldn't have had to protect me. _If only I was stronger... _

Then, one morning, she woke up with a vengeance and decided that she was ready. She forced everything to the back of her mind, pretending that none of it had happened, even going as far as pretending _they_ hadn't happened. She was going to be stronger and from then on she resolved to not let anything be her weakness.

From then on, she would train intensely every day and she would not show any emotion; _no rage, no sadness, no happiness, after all_, she thought, _I've_ _used up a lifetime's worth._

*****************


	7. Do You Believe Me Now?

**Do You Believe Me Now?**

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The moon was now full and it shone brightly over the great meadow, highlighting the blades of grass that swayed to the gentle breeze that blew refreshingly from across the horizon.

They had been running for hours all the while Soifon had been silent, deep within her thoughts, but as she reached the end of them she stopped.

Yoruichi was a few paces ahead of her, she had let the silence continue, leaving Soifon to her thoughts whilst she herself was immersed in her own. She stopped when she realised her companion had.

"Soi? Something the matter?"

"Yoruichi," Soifon looked up, allowing the moonlight to paint a pearl white across her delicate face, "I don't know why you're back, I don't know how, I don't even know if you're real, but...what I do know is that...right now... I'm happy that you're here..."

Yoruichi walked towards the younger Shinigami, noticing how the moonlight illuminated the tears around her silver eyes. She looked carefully into them and realised that they gave away how much she had aged inside since the last time she saw them, how even though she was still young and strong on the outside, she had definitely changed. Yoruichi placed a hand on Soifon's cheek and recalled a time when she could see into the girl's very soul through those eyes, how they used to be eager and stormy but were now a stone grey. "Well then, let me show you how very real I am" she whispered, leaning forward to kiss her.

Their lips touched, sending a wave of joy towards Soifon's head. She felt her lips close around Yoruichi's and she took comfort at how familiar they felt. She didn't close her eyes, determined to take in every last detail. She felt two arms wrap around her waist and she flinched as they held her tightly.

Hesitantly, Soifon broke the kiss, unable to believe what was happening. Her mind was brimming with questions, but they were chaotically mixed with desire and lust, until she couldn't resist it any longer, "Yoruichi..." she gazed into Yoruichi's eyes and all of her disbelief was dispelled in an instant as she saw a flicker of fire in her golden eyes that could only exist if she was real, very very real.

Suddenly, she moved closer and before she knew it she felt her clothes loosen as her sash unravelled and fell to the ground. Urged on, she pulled at Yoruichi's clothes, taking them off eagerly only breaking the kiss to pull the garment over her head.

Within moments both women were undressed and kissing furiously, until Soifon's knees buckled and they fell onto the soft grass. Her hands roamed the goddess's body, feeling every contour, it was all exactly as she remembered it. Yoruichi broke the kiss and moved downwards, gently brushing her lips against Soifon's neck. Soifon gasped with pleasure but as she looked at the princess's face she couldn't help moving her hands onto her dark shoulders and twisting them over until she was straddling above her. "It's been...too long...", she smiled, giving into her desire.

Yoruichi was surprised at her assertiveness, it wasn't like Soifon to be like this, but found she found it oddly arousing. They kissed for several moments before Soifon lowered herself to the goddess's chest kissing slowly towards her beautiful breasts. She increased the strength of her kisses as she reached them suckling on the peaks whilst massaging the other with her fingertips. She relished in the happiness that every one of the goddess's moans of pleasure gave her, which encouraged her to take everything slowly downwards, after all, she had waited all this time, she was going to enjoy every single moment.

Her hands continued to cup the goddess's breasts as she kissed along her firm abdomen slowly descending downwards. The goddess was moaning in anticipation as Soifon parted her legs but cried out as she began kissing the inside of her thighs. With every touch Soifon smiled as she remembered that the princess didn't like to wait, but it was moments like this that made it all the better. When she had left a trail of wet kisses on one thigh, she started on the other, the goddess cried out even louder in anticipation as she approached again and this time Soifon couldn't help grinning as she paused for a moment, like the calm before a storm.

She leaned in and thrusted her tongue into the goddess's wet folds, causing her to scream in ecstasy. Soifon knew exactly what she had to do and she found the spot as if it had only been since yesterday since she tasted it. The goddess's body tensed uncontrollably as she held Soifon's thick hair. Soifon's tongue swirled and licked the place she knew that would send the princess into another world and all the while knowing it would only be a matter of seconds...

Moments later the goddess gave one last cry of breathlessness as she felt the electricity shoot up along her spine. Soifon let a grin escape whilst she watched the goddess gasping for breath.

Moments later Yoruichi had pinned Soifon to the soft ground, determined to make her pay for making her wait. She watched the delicate face close her eyes tight and her voice cry louder and higher with every little touch. Her fingers were already crawling seductively along her porcelain stomach but suddenly a thought came to her and couldn't help but wonder if somebody else had done the same since she had been gone.

As if reading her mind, the younger Shinigami opened her eyes and raised her quivering hand to Yoruichi's face giving a look that told Yoruichi that there had been nobody else. She had given herself completely to the princess.

Yoruichi couldn't hold back her expression of surprise and happiness, for some reason she must have assumed that the younger Shinigami would have moved on, but she hadn't. Whatever the reason, she didn't care, right now, Soifon was all hers.

Her payback plan abandoned, she kissed her with a passionate force, all over, as Soifon shuddered with every little touch. She loved how she knew every part of this body off by heart and she relished in the knowledge of the exact spots that would make it contort in pleasure.

Her expert hands and lips moved and roamed all along Soifon's body, forgetting nothing and slowly marking the body that she knew belonged to her and more importantly, the body that Yoruichi belonged to too.

She tickled the side and back of Soifon's neck with her lips, taking in the scent of her hair, it was her favourite place to be.

Yoruichi moved downwards, mercilessly returning the favour Soifon had given her, the fire built up all over Soifon's body and set her senses ablaze, until the final moment came and all of the walls that Soifon had built around her heart after all these years gave in, and crumbled silently out of existence.


	8. United

**United**

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**

Soifon's eyes flickered open as the bright rays of the sun rose over the horizon. For a moment she was bewildered by the beauty of it, feeling the warmth of it spread across her face. The memory of the night before rushed back to her, almost like a smack in the face, causing her body to tense. _Was it a dream?_

Her question was answered as she felt Yoruichi's slender dark arm around her waist which sent a tingling sensation up her body. As she stirred Yoruichi held her tighter, nuzzling her nose into her usual spot, the back of Soifon's neck. She breathed in her scent deeply, enjoying the taste of it. Yoruichi's warm breath sent electricity along Soifon's spine and she strove to control herself, _it's real, this is really happening_. She took in a deep breath, hoping she wasn't making a mistake and setting herself up for more heartbreak.

"Yoruichi..." Soifon said, tentatively, not wanting to take away the moment.

"Hmm...?" the goddess mumbled, half asleep.

"W-What's...I-I...need answers".

*

They had gotten dressed and were now resting for on the top of the small hill of green grass, overlooking the orange sunrise. Soifon sat, whilst Yoruichi took a more relaxed position on her side by Soifon's knee.

"I don't even know when to start," Soifon blurted, hurriedly arranging her thoughts. "H-how? Why? What is this? Where are we?" she blubbered. The need to answer all of the questions to everything right now was unexpectedly frustrating, and the muddle of all of her emotions almost made her feel exhausted all over again.

"Calm down, Soi, don't get so excited!" Yoruichi smiled. She paused. "I don't know all of the answers yet". She reached inside her breast pocket and brought out a small object wrapped in an orange cloth. She unravelled it to reveal a small thin golden flute, slightly longer than her hand, made of pure gold, elegantly moulded into a hollow tube that tapered to one end and had various sized holes along one side.

"I know you have the knife Soifon". She opened her palm, signalling the younger Shinigami to hand it over. She obeyed and gave her the wrapped knife.

She paused again, took a deep breath and continued "I've been thinking...the King's Seal. The King's Knife, and do you know what this is Soifon? I've heard of it before, but I didn't know it was real, I think it's the King's Flute".

Yoruichi unravelled the cloth and weighed the knife in her hands, studying the black lines of the engraving carefully. She traced her fingers along them, turning the knife as she went. After several moments she said, "I see. Soifon, do you realise what these markings mean?"

"Um...they look familiar...but..."

Yoruichi smiled and plunged her free hand into the grass, she pulled out a few tufts until she made a small clearing. She stirred the dirt until it made a thin pile like sand and she placed the handle of the knife on one side of the elevated mound. Carefully holding the hilt she rolled the handle across the dirt and watched Soifon's expression to confirm her suspicions. The heavy gold was pressing down on the earth, but the black grooves left a marking on the thin dirt in the shape of a butterfly tattoo. "Suzumebachi" Soifon whispered.

"Hmm. I don't know what's going on but somehow Soifon, I think you were supposed to find this. My family's been looking after it for generations but somehow it's connected to you, Soifon" Yoruichi finished, wisely.

Soifon picked up the blade from the ground and grasped it in her hand. Yoruichi was right, it _did_ feel connected to her, almost like it she share a bond with it...

"And this, I guess, has something to do with it as well, do you know what this does? Guess! Guess!" She held up the flute closer to their faces.

Soifon shook her head, of course she had no idea, Yoruichi was just playing with her. She should have been a little annoyed, but she was too fascinated by what Yoruichi had just said. Anyway, it made her smile a little knowing that Yoruichi was teasing her, it reassured her that nothing had changed, and she was glad of it.

"It summons stuff," Yoruichi replied to her own question, rather anticlimactically, with a disappointed tone. "Yeah, it _sounds_ cool, but all I've managed to get it to do is summon damned hollows" Yoruichi laughed.

Soifon didn't see what was funny, "I don't get it" she said abruptly.

Yoruichi raised one eyebrow and placed her hand on Soifon's head, tousling her hair as she smiled. Soifon's mind flashed back to the time when they were teacher and student and Yoruichi used to do that all the time. The familiarity of the gesture stirred a strong sense of nostalgia within her and for a moment she spaced out.

"...followed this melody and the next thing I know I was here". Yoruichi said. "I wish it was as cool as a _dagger_ though, you know, it could cut a hole like, in space, and I would gracefully step out or something! Would have been much more glamorous than me waking up in the middle of a forest, in a complete daze and it just lying on the ground, oh yeah, and naked as well might I add". She smiled again at the thought.

"So...it summons stuff from other worlds...it brought you back to life? By itself?"

"No silly, haven't you been listening? I think someone _blew_ on it and brought me back to life. I have no idea why but when I woke up there was a pile of clothes and someone had drawn your butterfly thingy and a map in the dirt. Next thing I know, you come crashing in through the trees and collapsing where I was lying. Good thing I got up otherwise I woulda been flat as a pancake! Jeez, don't you ever look where you're going?"

Soifon suddenly remembered how she had run and run, using up the little energy she had left after so many sleepless nights as she felt something pushing her away, or rather, something _pulling_ her away. _I must have fainted or something..._

She looked at Yoruichi's garments and once again noticed the resemblance between them and the thief from the other night. _Was it him that left her the clothes? Was it him that called her back? _Realising she hadn't spoken for a few moments she quickly asked, "So what do we do now? The Captain-Commander... he said that I will have to 'find my way', I don't know where..." she trailed off.

"Well, I guess that means we better follow the map. I have a strange feeling that we have to do it. Go there. We better get started" Yoruichi stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes.

Soifon nodded, she felt that for whatever reason, she couldn't go back to Seireitei until she 'determined her own fate' at least, whatever that meant. "So, where are we headed?" Soifon got up as well.

"Well, err... to tell you the truth, I have no idea".

It took Soifon a few moments to respond, "...WHAT? You don't know _where_ we're going? Then why have we run all this way?!"

"Calm down Soi, I know we're heading over in _that_ direction somewhere but after _that_ I'm lost!" she vaguely indicated towards some mountains in the distance behind her and then raised her arms in an 'I can't help it' way.

Soifon felt a vein begin to pulse on her head, _this is exactly why I did not want to bring her lazy ass on missions,_ she thought. "Didn't you say there was a map?" Soifon yelled.

'Well yeah but I only got a quick look at it..."

"What do you mean, _a quick look_?"

"Well it kinda-"

"What?"

"You kinda...sat on it"

"Huh?"

"Um, you know when I said it was drawn in the dirt...?"

"Yeah" she replied impatiently.

"And you know when I said you came flying through the trees out of nowhere? And that you landed where I was lying on the ground?"

"Yeah, so?" Soifon said, unable to connect the dots being dazed in her irritation.

"Well the map was thereand um, your ass kinda wiped it out..."

Soifon's face turned into an unsubtle shade of scarlet. "Oh..." she managed. She tried to calm herself, since the violent blush and popping vein were probably not her most attractive features, "...we'll head that way to see what's over there...then..." she turned and walked quickly, as Yoruichi let a loud snort of laughter escape her lips.

*

They ran towards the distant mountains, looking ahead at the many miles that they could tell lay before them. With their amazing speed, they knew they could cover the distance in weeks, but Soifon felt a tinge of regret with each step they took towards the unknown; she felt she was counting down the days that she could spend alone with Yoruichi, she didn't know what was coming up ahead, but she had a strange feeling it was going to be dangerous.

They passed the grass plains quickly and spent a few days travelling through sandy deserts, with the sun beating down on their backs, they spent the hottest times resting where they could, under trees, in stone caves as the once tiny mountains loomed closer above them. They passed the hot days and cool nights sometimes in silence, both of them completely comfortable with the presence of the other, and at other times they would talk, for hours and hours, never running out of anything to say.

Soifon carried the heavy knife on her waist by her side, but occasionally she would keep it protectively inside her breast pocket as she slept. At times, curiosity would get the better of her and she would take it out to admire it, wondering how the hell she didn't realise what the carvings really were, but mostly awing at the fact that it could kill _anything_, how useful it would have been before...

Once, they were lying side by side in the cool sand on a calm night looking up at the millions of starts scattered like salt across the velvet night sky, Soifon asked, "Yoruichi, what was it like...you know...being-" she trailed off tentatively, not knowing if she could finish the sentence.

"-dead?" the princess completed, she paused thoughtfully, "it's hard to describe, dark mostly!" she tried to joke, but then paused again more seriously, "it was definitely not how I imagined, I was just...floating, I didn't feel anything, not even time, just nothingness I think, I was just kinda...nowhere...sleeping..." she paused again, almost dreamily, "but when I came back it was like a gush of fresh air, and somehow I could feel again...".

Soifon turned to Yoruichi who was gazing distantly upwards at the sky and searched for her hand in the soft sand, and when she found it she held it in hers as tightly as she could.

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_Reviews welcome!_


	9. Tainted Dreams

**Tainted Dreams**

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Soon they reached the edge of the desert where blades of grass started to shoot from under the thinning sand and eventually they came across a small but deep lake, it looked oddly misplaced, like a mirage, but it's clear blue waters looked inviting. They stopped in their tracks at the beauty of it, admiring the setting sunlight dappling the surface.

Before Soifon knew it, the figure next to her was running towards it with great speed, clothing fluttering in the air in a trail above Yoruichi as she sprinted towards the water. Soifon followed suit, undoing her braids on the way and Yoruichi watched from her half submerged position the small figure gracefully dive into the lake towards her. When Soifon emerged, Yoruichi watched the younger Shinigami's pearly skin as the water flowed in shiny trails from her hair, and how her it took on the golden bronze of the sunset that reflected from the calm waters.

The sunset casted a peaceful glow low over the horizon, creating a sensual atmosphere all around them, and when they touched, the lust from before transformed into something deeper, and so Yoruichi slowed down, taking in all of the details of Soifon's body she hadn't noticed that night before. Her fingers ran gently along her back as they kissed, but she stopped in surprise as the tips felt at thin scars on Soifon's shoulder and sides that she did not recognise, horrible blemishes the younger fighter had accumulated from endless hours of training and fighting. Soifon felt Yoruichi pause, wondering what she must have thought of her carelessness. Her mind flittered back to the times when she had fought enemies in blind rage, taking vengeance on everyone and everything and letting it cloud her mind until she stopped caring whether she lived or died.

Yoruichi stared deep into the silver eyes, as if searching for the demons that haunted her. She ran her tips over and over the dark slivers, as guilt stirred inside her, _I'm sorry_, she thought, or maybe it escaped as whisper, she couldn't tell as she held the woman, not girl, closer to her body, almost protectively, regretting all of the times she hadn't been there to save her from the pain that marked her skin.

*

The mountains were much closer now, almost filling their entire view. Sometimes at night, Soifon would pretend to drift off and then stay up almost all night with one eye open, watching the goddess next to her sleep. She didn't take any moment for granted, she had suppressed everything for so long and she thought she would never feel peace like this again.

But sometimes Yoruichi would watch Soifon when she held the knife and she would notice her eyes almost glaze over as she admired at it. Yoruichi could feel it gripping her heart slowly, like poison, and with each moment that passed she felt a tiny part of her slip away. The feeling was backwards and unbearable, she felt that she was losing her the longer they were together, and Soifon must have felt something too, because they pressed on, the mountains drawing them ever closer, towards the unknown though they knew they needed to find a cure, even though both of them would have happily stayed together at that lake forever.


	10. Should I Save the World?

**Should I Save the World?**

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Soifon's concerns over what to do when they reached their destination were immediately dispelled when they reached the foot of the mountains. She gave Yoruichi a silent look, "Do you feel that?"

"Yeah"

Their eyes connected their thoughts and they moved on, sensing the strange reiatsu that lead the rest of the way.

*

They climbed most of the giant peak when they saw a giant stone fortress loom above them. It was tremendously tall, and square, and it perched heavily on the side of the steep ground. At the front were large dark wooden doors that were reinforced with black rusting iron. They approached the entrance and to their surprise the colossal doors opened as they pushed them, letting the sunlight pour into the darkness inside. They walked forward, their eyes attempting to adjust to the contrasting light.

With a loud creak the giant doors behind them slammed shut, and locked into place with a slam, shaking the ground beneath them.

"I guess there's no going back" Yoruichi said.

They continued to walk forwards, finally able to take in their surroundings. They were in an enormous dark chamber that was massive in all directions. They could see the left and right walls stretching far away from them but the far wall was shrouded in darkness, giving the impression of endlessness. Above them the ceiling rose high and tall, the only indication where it ended was a tiny white circular hole at the top where a speck of light entered from the outside and stretched downwards into magnificent cylindrical beam on a wide stone pedestal in the centre of the chamber.

The two women approached cautiously, their alert eyes flickered around, ready to attack. They followed the dark red carpet towards the stone pedestal with its jagged edges and smooth and flat top.

Suddenly, they heard a voice resonate above them and they looked up to see a graceful figure dressed in a pure white flowing dress, appear to be floating in the centre of the white beam. Her skin was ashen white, and her eyes were sapphire blue, she resembled a young girl, with long golden yellow locks, and yet her pallid form made her appear sickly and old.

"I have been waiting a long time, I am glad you have come." she said. Her ethereal voice entranced the two women as they stopped in their tracks to admire the angelic girl levitating in the bright shaft of light.

"I am Princess Kinnochōko, descendent of the Emperor that created the King's Collection" her voice was young, but she spoke sparsely, with the wisdom of somebody that was perhaps centuries old, "There is no more time. Here, this is the King's Crown". In a graceful movement she swept her gentle white hand across her head and removed a golden band, intricately cut into an exquisite pattern with a single crimson ruby mounted on the centre. She held it in front of her and let go, but instead of falling it floated in front of her rotating slowly, as if showing off its divine beauty.

"It grants the wearer eternal life and binds them to guard the King's Collection. The King's Collection was created as the most powerful weapons in the world, but they were made to work together in harmony to control their immense power. Without the King's Seal the Collection is incomplete. If the world is to go on, either the entire Collection exists to protect it, or they must all be destroyed to keep the balance between the worlds. They cannot exist if one or more of them is gone" she spoke slowly.

There was a moment of silence. "Wait!" Soifon cried out, the sound of her own voice surprised her, "P-please..." she trailed off. Her need for answers for everything had overwhelmed her and somehow she knew that this Princess had the answers she needed.

"I know what you want to know, and I will answer them for you, but in return you must do as I say" the Princess said. Soifon could only nod at the words.

"Shihōin Yoruichi," the Princess turned her glowing eyes to face her, "You must understand that when a soul leaves this world, not all of them are gone forever. That night you _almost_ died, your soul was one of the few that made it into the Abyss".

"...the Abyss?" Yoruichi whispered. She stared upwards, almost lost for words as her mind began searching frantically through her knowledge for anything,_ anything_, but she found nothing.

"When a soul is not ready to leave a world that they have a strong connection to, they will remain in limbo. When a soul cannot leave Earth they are forced to wander, lost, until their ties are broken and they are sent to this world. When a soul cannot leave this world they wander in the Abyss. Your willingness to protect the ones you care about and the strength of their love for you meant that you were unable to move on, and you became trapped from fully leaving this world. And thus, you could be summoned by the King's Flute. When a soul dies it is never really gone, it only leaves one world and moves onto the next. The flute can summon souls from other worlds, even the Abyss."

Swiftly, out of the shadows stepped a figure dressed in black, Soifon immediately recognised the body shape as the 'thief' that attacked her team all those nights ago. He removed his mask to reveal cropped grey hair, and a matured face with thin lines and deep scars.

He spoke in a coarse voice to Soifon "I knew that the only way I could get you to come here was to have someone to guide you. Only _you_ can destroy the rest of the King's Collection. You have made it here without it taking power over your soul because you were not alone on this journey. Without a companion, you would not have found your way because you would not have a strong enough connection to this world to resist the temptation that the power of the Knife brings."

He paused before finishing "I am deeply sorry about your comrades, I tried to not kill them, but they were very skilled. I needed to attract your attention and the only way to do it was to create a situation that the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō would come and investigate. I would have been killed if I approached Seireitei", he bowed.

Soifon's mind had been drowning in confusion but now all of the pieces started to slot into place. She snapped out of her trance when the Princess spoke again, "Over the centuries I have guarded the Collection, making sure that their true power is never released. But when the Seal was destroyed, the force of each of their powers became unbalanced and now the harmony between the worlds is in danger. I have become too weak to keep their force suppressed for much longer. I beg of you, destroy them all now, and release me of this heavy burden". Her sapphire eyes looked deeply into Soifon's and suddenly she felt the intensity of the Princesses' pain.

The crown moved and broke out of the light and fell towards her. Soifon gripped the knife, hypnotised by the ruby that looked much duller now that it was in semi darkness, and held the sharp blade out above her. She watched the beautiful crown fall towards the fatal edge as she struck it and the moment they touched the delicate crown fell into pieces with an ominous chime that echoed all around the massive chamber.

As the soft ringing faded she looked up to see the Princess smiling sorrowfully as she blossomed slowly into petals of white light, "Thank you" she whispered.

After a moment, the man dressed in black closed his eyes and said sadly "my life was to carry out Princess Kinnochōko's wishes, and now it has been granted I no longer have a purpose", and before either or the women could react he abruptly disappeared.

As if to wake them out a dream a thunderous rumbling sound stirred in the ground beneath their feet and grew louder and louder until the ground itself shook violently. The castle walls began to crumble around them and beams of light were intruding from the sky from in between the cracks.

Yoruichi blinked as she shook herself back to reality. Her senses were telling her that something bad was about to happen if they didn't follow through. Her hand reached into her pocket where she kept the golden instrument. For all its delicate appearance, it refused to bend or break to her strength. With an exasperated sigh she yelled desperately "Soifon, we have to destroy them!"

Soifon remained motionless as sand and rocks began to fall around her. Her head was dipped low, Yoruichi couldn't read her eyes as she whispered "I-I can't..."

Yoruichi noticed her hand grip tighter onto the knife, and her heart dropped as she watched Soifon's hands shake, "Soi... you have to do it... I know it's hard... but, but, you can't... let it control you-" Yoruichi called.

"Dammit, Yoruichi." Soifon interrupted, almost too quietly for the other woman to hear. In a split second the young Shinigami had disappeared and reappeared right in front of the goddess.

"I'm not that weak..." she whispered, and to the taller woman's surprise her lips were suddenly crushed under the force of Soifon's as she kissed the princess fiercely. Yoruichi was too stunned to respond but after a few moments she broke the violent kiss in confusion. But at the same time Soifon jumped back a few feet and Yoruichi saw that in her left hand she held the flute.

"This thing brought you back to life," Soifon cried, Yoruichi could sense tears begin to build around her eyes even though Soifon wouldn't look at her, "who says that if I destroy it you won't disappear too?" she choked loudly, "I won't do it!"

The immense castle was falling apart faster and faster, the rocks falling around them were getting bigger by the second. Yoruichi could feel the fabric that divided the hollows from this world thinning and ripping and tearing. The hollows were coming. Soon they would all crawl and claw their way into Soul Society, hundreds of thousands of millions of them, as if they were released from imprisonment to feast upon their souls.

"Soi-" she began.

"Dammit Yoruichi!" Soifon repeated, "Dammit! How many times do you have to leave me? If you do it again, this time...this time..." she was yelling loudly, still looking at the ground, her fists clenched tighter around the golden objects. "...One more time and I will fall apart and I will never be able to put myself together again!"

Yoruichi's eyes widened in surprise, "Soi...", In a flash the goddess stepped forward, this time it was her moving in front of Soifon. She placed a gentle hand on Soifon's cheek. Her voice was calm, "You have to, we can't let _them_ through because of us," she paused, rubbing a single tear from Soifon's face, "...and the Abyss, it's still there right? I'll wait for you, I promise".

Soifon trembled at her words, she paused for a few moments and then threw the flute high into the air. She placed her free hand on top of Yoruichi's on her cheek. As if in slow motion the flute flew up and fell down towards them, descending towards them steadily, Soifon finally looked up at Yoruichi, her eyes were a deep pool of whirling silver, and her voice was a heartbreaking whisper "It's a deal, Yoruichi".

And with that, she raised the golden blade in her right hand and struck down on the flute above their heads, all the while looking straight into Yoruichi's eyes.

Gold hit gold but the magic of the blade broke the fragile flute and it shattered like glass into a hundred pieces, raining down like glittering stars that sparkled in the broken light around them.


	11. Final Destruction

**Final Destruction**

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Despite the chaos that was unfolding all around them, for several moments the women heard nothing but silence. They stared intensely in each other's eyes, waiting.

Each second seemed to stretch forever as Soifon watched the goddess's face with a ferocious intensity she had never felt before.

_This is it_, she thought.

Suddenly, the dark face twitched, her eyes became wide and her lips contorted. Soifon's heart skipped a beat and her lungs felt like they were going to crush inside of her.

"S-Soi-l--let-GO!" the goddess babbled, and a shocked Soifon looked down at the hand to see her it had gripped Yoruichi's so tight that her own knuckles had turned white. Quickly, she let the hand go and Yoruichi pulled it into the other hand massaging it vigorously. "Gosh woman, remind me to never let you have a pet" she smiled smugly.

Soifon cried out in joy and leapt towards the unsuspecting woman locking her into an even tighter embrace. The adrenaline that had built up in the last few seconds caused her to lose control of her strong muscles as she squeezed Yoruichi's torso and arms in a death grip.

"O-Ouch! S-Soi!" Yoruichi shrieked, "_You're_-k-killing-m-me!"

At that moment a giant boulder fell from the high walls and threatened to crush them. Soifon quickly relinquished her grip and the two women skilfully dodged out of the way.

Above them a screeching and roaring began to echo as the hollows drew towards the world. Already, ragged black holes began to appear all around them, Yoruichi skilfully leapt between the falling rocks taking care to avoid the hollows that began to creep through the void.

"The knife, Soi!" Yoruichi yelled above the deafening noise.

Soifon looked down at the blade, everything seemed so simple now, and she knew exactly what to do. She passed the heavy blade to her left hand and reached behind her with her right.

"_Jinteki Shakusetsu!_" a bright light enveloped her slender arm as the Shinigami Captain released her shikai. The gold and black weapon surrounded her hand and its long deadly point glinted sharply in the shifting light.

It was hard to believe that it would work, but everything fit perfectly into place. With a deep breath she stabbed the exact point of the centre of the black marking on the handle, making the deadly second and final sting. Once more, gold met gold, but this time knife grew brighter and brighter with the first touch of the point until it was no longer a golden blade but instead Soifon was clasping a ball of blinding white light in her hand.

The light grew and grew, until it became so huge and bright that Soifon turned away, shielding her eyes, as it engulfed the two women and the entire castle and bathed even the mountains in pure white radiance.

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_Reviews welcome!_


	12. When Forever Means Forever

**When Forever Means Forever**

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They took their time returning to Seireitei, now that there was nothing pressing them to go anywhere or do anything. They spent some days not even travelling at all, instead just enjoying their complete freedom as if they had all of the time in the world.

The time passed by like a dream but nevertheless, Soifon felt that her responsibilities were beginning to call for her return and eventually they made it back to the gates of Seireitei. The Captain-Commander was alerted immediately upon their arrival, and the Captains listened to her story calmly, each silently comparing her report with their experiences (such as the severe deterioration of the hollow boundaries and consequently the sudden appearance of hundreds of hollows all over Seireitei - which was dealt with by the Gotei 13). They were certainly shocked by the reappearance of Yoruichi but all of them were welcoming and happy for her return.

The Captain Commander restored Soifon's Captain status, after her many weeks of absence, he saw no reason to upturn the whole of the Second Division and the Onmitsukidō by replacing their leader, now that she had come back and was no longer in possession of a forbidden weapon.

Yoruichi returned to her home and took her place as head of the Shihōin family once again. She restored the noble family to its former glory, much to the relief of the many people affected by the decades of disorder.

Soifon spent some time wondering why fate had chosen _her_ to do it, but in the end she was glad it did. It had played a funny game with her, she thought, with her involvement with the very family that guarded it for centuries and how those markings made their way through time to print itself onto her powers, and how everything slotted into place, but when she remembered Yoruichi was back because of it, nothing else really mattered.

And during those nights when Soifon lay sleepily in the cool darkness, bathed in the blue moonlight streaming in through the open window, with Yoruichi's warm breath tickling the back of her neck and their hands intertwined tightly, she would think about how that fateful night all those years ago had made her a stronger person and how it made her all the more thankful for the miracle lying next to her she didn't know she deserved. She would think about how much she meant to her, and a smile would spread on her lips as she realised that even if they lived in a thousand different worlds with a thousand different lives they will always be together because not even death can do them apart.

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A/N: Thank you for reading Memories of a Dream. I've been a Yorusoi fan for a while now but I'd never thought of writing a fic until one night this whole story just came to me and I couldn't help but write it down!

I am a really big fan of Soifon and Yoruichi, they're totally awesome and I hope I've done them justice in this story, I hope you liked it!

Thank you everyone for reviewing, they are greatly appreciated, DarkBlueEyes.x


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